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Escobar's $90,000 "Joke"

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Escobar's $90,000 "Joke"

by

Abby Zimet

Things Do Change Dept: The cautionary tale of Yunel Escobar of the Toronto Blue Jays, who during a recent game against the Boston Red Sox wrote “Tu Ere Maricon,” an anti-gay slur in Spanish, on his eye black, for which act of creativity he was suspended for three games, with his $90,000-plus salary donated to two gay advocacy groups. The team declared the taunt "an unacceptable message." Of course, the fact the guy makes that kind of money for a few hours of playing ball is another kind of unacceptable message, but that's another story. For now, words matter.

"The suspension is the result of his decision to display an unacceptable message " the Blue Jays said in a statement. "The Blue Jays want to reaffirm that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated."

Further

With the toxic Bibi circus in town - cue talk of "tentacles of terror" - find hope in the extraordinary Combatants For Peace, a joint effort by Israeli and Palestinian veterans of violence who've laid down their guns to fight for peace. Led by a former IDF soldier and Fatah militant who both lost daughters to the conflict's "unrightable wrongs," they insist on the need to "hear what is painful" and "talk to your 'enemies'...Partners for peace always exist. You only have to look for them."